In many applications, it is desirable to have a telescopic assembly. Typically such telescopic assemblies extend from a collapsed, portable position to an extended position. This allows the assembly to be reduced in size for portability and then extended for use. Some telescopic assemblies can only be locked at one or more particular positions (e.g. when fully extended and/or collapsed) and others are lockable in a range of positions.
With many telescopic assemblies, such as those used for camera tripods for instance, it is necessary to individually release and lock each section of the telescoping legs. Locking mechanisms that control locking and releasing of two sections a telescoping leg simultaneously are known, however, such mechanisms typically suffer from various disadvantages, including weight, awkward or balky operation and inability to work with many (more than two) telescoping sections. Additionally, each leg has its own mechanism that must be operated individually. Furthermore, some known locking mechanisms do not allow locking at any point of extension and are limited to locking at full extension and/or retraction only.
It is an object of the invention to provide a telescoping assembly that overcomes at least some of the problems referred to above or that at least offers the public a useful choice.